MFP Calorie Count. Accurate?

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drewie85
drewie85 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm 5'10, 28 years old (male), 255 lbs. It says in order to lose 2 lbs a week I need to eat maximum 1650 calories. This of course doesn't include any exercise. I found this to be relatively easy to do, but some people are saying I should be eating more - But that sounds crazy.

I do walk 4-5 times a week doing about 2 miles each day. So I was wondering if you go by what yours says?

Replies

  • Dori_Gaga
    Dori_Gaga Posts: 50 Member
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    Go find your BMR (just googled BMR calculator). Then find your TDEE (also can be found on Google). To lose 2lbs per week, subtract 1000 from your TDEE and that should be your daily calorie goal. This will create a deficit of 1000 calories per day, or 7000 per week. 3500 calories is a pound, so that will have you losing 2lbs a week, on average.
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    Depending on how you rated yourself in MFP for activity, you should probably make sure to log your walking as exercise. That would raise your calorie goal on the days you walk. I have found that when I compare MFPs exercise calories to those from my HRM MFP tends to give a higher calorie count. For some activities it seems to be off by a factor of 2 or more.

    Most folks seem to eat back about half to two-thirds their exercise calories.

    I have found I can live within the calorie counts recommended by MFP and have lost weight every week for almost 3 months.
  • FreedomSand
    FreedomSand Posts: 30 Member
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    Um, why do you say to calculate the BMR? But if you use Google to find a TDEE calculator, that is calculating your BMR, so you don't have to do that first Google search at all.

    And mine comes out to within a few calories of what mfp says, so I use the mfp data.
  • qnotes
    qnotes Posts: 20 Member
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    What I have been doing is making sure my net doesn't exceed 1000 calories. I eat, on average, 2200 cal and the recommendation for me 2560. I exercise and burn 1400-1500, which leaves me with a net of about 1k cal if I am consuming 2500. This should lead to weight loss of about 2lbs a week, theoretically. I am losing more than that, however, bc I have more to lose--my muscles are forced to burn more b/c they're working harder.

    Similar to what Dori_Gaga said. No "calorie counting" app is going to be perfectly accurate, though. Use it as a guideline and adjust appropriately. And not everyone is definitely -10% metabolic rate when they arrive at age 30, so as much as you use the number crunching program, you have to listen and watch your body. Everyone has varying levels of efficiency.

    Keep eating the right things in balance, and do the thing you do.
  • jennyglass
    jennyglass Posts: 13
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    I am 1290 calories a day and at times it is hard but for the most part doable if I exercise for just 20min a day. It says I should lose about 10lbs by mid-February but I honestly don't see that happening.

    I eat the most at dinner so I 'save up' calories for then. Then I can have wine and actually sleep well.

    I find that the calories burned is a bit over or exaggerated (on this site) than what it says at the gym by 70 to 100 calories per exercise. I don't know who put in the calories burned per exercise but I am starting to have some doubts if they are accurate or not. ..also with the calories in food.
  • selmaphilbrick
    selmaphilbrick Posts: 9 Member
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    Do you do any other form of exercise? I don't log my exercise on here, because MFP will add back those calories to your daily goal, and if you aren't careful, you will eat the calories you burned. I think the number you have is a good number of calories for you, if you are walking and not doing any HIIT training. Try it for a week, see what happens, and go from there. :)
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    Do you do any other form of exercise? I don't log my exercise on here, because MFP will add back those calories to your daily goal, and if you aren't careful, you will eat the calories you burned. I think the number you have is a good number of calories for you, if you are walking and not doing any HIIT training. Try it for a week, see what happens, and go from there. :)

    So agree! Try different things until you find your groove. A week is a good measurement. Be ready to change it up if you don't see the results you want. The only caveat I would add is that males require more energy and the few male friends that I have, nearly all needed to up their calories to maintain their endurance. Males have a serious advantage because they can gain muscle much easier than females. Use that advantage!
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Do you do any other form of exercise? I don't log my exercise on here, because MFP will add back those calories to your daily goal, and if you aren't careful, you will eat the calories you burned. I think the number you have is a good number of calories for you, if you are walking and not doing any HIIT training. Try it for a week, see what happens, and go from there. :)
    MFP is set up with the expectation that you eat back calories burned, particularly if you're set on 'Sedentary.' Given the OP's gender, height, and starting weight, it appears likely that he is set on Sedentary and thus ought to eat back the exercise calories.
  • Dori_Gaga
    Dori_Gaga Posts: 50 Member
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    Um, why do you say to calculate the BMR? But if you use Google to find a TDEE calculator, that is calculating your BMR, so you don't have to do that first Google search at all.

    And mine comes out to within a few calories of what mfp says, so I use the mfp data.

    Yeah, I guess you don't really need to get your BMR, I forgot TDEE calculators included that (it's been a while since I calculated mine). I was thinking that the TDEE calculator would ask for your BMR, but I guess it would ask for your height/weight.

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